Saturday (13 March 2010) was the first day of a 5 day FFME ski guide training. We headed up from Grenoble at 7am to stay in a Auberge at Vallezan. The first day was group leading. Starting from les Pars we did are beacon checks then took a forest track to the south-est. On exiting the forest around 1500m the route turned north to climb the shoulder of the Grand Chatelet first through a series of villages then a long undulating ridge.

there were splendid views over the Vanoise and the Pierre Menta

The couloirs are just below the ski summit (the real summit, which can also be skied after a steep traverse is at 2529 meters). Not everyone was keen on the descent but as one of the instructors said, we would be expected to ahve at least this level of skiing. In truth they were probably keen to ski the route.

At the bottom of the couloirs there is a plateau. Head to the south-west where a small col leads onto some slopes of around 30 degrees. Watch out these slopes are avalanche prone. Head down to Laval, cross the river adn continue on the right bank to Forand and la Gitte and the car park.

We descended at around 15h00 which was probably about an hour too late to ski the couloirs in the best condition. The avalanche risk was 2 and there were no signs of any instabilities.

Route Card
==========
Start Altitude: 1400m
Summit: 2461m
Climb time: 3 hours
Descent: 1 hour
Climb Grade: F-
Ski: 3.3 / 4.1
Exposure: 1

Precautions:
There are two couloirs. The one on the right (looking down the mountain) is around 40 degrees at the steepest. The left couloir is around 35 degrees. Both are relatively short. Good training couloirs.

Take care that the couloirs have not seen too much sun, test the snowpack to make sure it is still solid except for the first 2-3cm. The couloirs are oriented slightly to the south and the rock wall reflects the sun.

Carte IGN TOP 25 3532OT
Road Access Moutiers -> Aime -> D86 -> la Bergerie -> les Pars (parking after the cross country ski chalet)
Accomodation: There is a Gite/Auberge in Valezan.

i’d love to see the views of the Vanoise, looks superb, and great weather too.

so are you hoping to become an actual guide, or is it more to further your mountain skills?

Hi,

I should explain that it is only the French Mountaineering Federation’s qualification. Probably similar to the British IML stuff but on skis. It is a bit bizarre, if you are a member of a ski club they will pay for the training and in return your club gets paid by the govt. a small amount if you lead club groups but beyond that you don’t touch a penny. There is lots of cross over with the French UIAGM training but obviously working as a professional is a whole different level. One thing we do is an orienteering module which has only been introduced this year into the UIAGM curriculum. I will post a bit more information when I have a moment.